Defender Rey Martinez, who played last season for the Lancers and formerly was a popular Rhinos player, is one of seven players that the Rochester Lancers announced on Wednesday that they’ve added. The signing of Martinez, a native of Cuba known for his flashy style on and off the field, and the other new players are pending USL approval and bring the roster to 18 players along with the 11 returnees. The Lancers open their second MISL season on Saturday at rival Syracuse, which may have a familiar face in goal, Rhinos keeper KristianNicht (more on that later in this post). The home opener at Blue Cross Arena at the Community War Memorial is Saturday, Nov. 10 against the Chicago Soul. The other Lancers signees:

Defender Stephen Basso and midfielder Garret Pettis who play outdoors with Harrisburg.

Forward Andy Tiedt, a former University of Buffalo player who played in the outdoor NPSL for FC Buffalo.

EARLS STICKING WITH LANCERS: It appears any issues between the Rhinos and Lancers loaning players will not affect the loan of midfielder Danny Earls to the Lancers by the Rhinos. That’s good news because, as I’ve said, I think Earls is going to be terrific indoors.

NICHT TO SYRACUSE: Rhinos goalie Kristian Nicht, the USL PRO Goalkeeper of the Year, may end up in goal for Syracuse (on loan for the Rhinos) and could compete for the starting spot. “I think he’s going to end up there, but nothing has been determined yet,” Rhinos coach Jesse Myers said. Syracuse coach Tommy Tanner said Nicht is under consideration. Brian O’Quinn is the only keeper so far on Syracuse’s rooster. The Lancers return starter, Patrick Hannigan, and backup, Gavin McInerney so they had no need for Nicht.

I can’t really tell you if Tom Sermanni is a good hire, can’t say if the United States women’s national team naming a 58-year-old native of Scotland, an anonymous man to anyone outside soccer circles, is the right move. I don’t know enough about him other than his resume, which is a strong one after developing the Australian national team for 11 years. Over the last eight, his squad reached the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in its history (2007 and in 2011). Prior to that, the Aussies had never won a single World Cup match.

He is said to have a demeanor similar to the woman he replaces, Pia Sundhage, whose laid-back style was a hit with players. Go ahead: Tell me many fans knew much about Sundhage, a Swede, before she took over as U.S. coach. Truth is, they didn’t. Goalkeeper Hope Solo said Sundhage was demanding of what they did on the field, but let them do their own thing off it and be their own person. Sundhage demanded players “respected each other” above all the other noise that can seep into a team, Solo has said (and usually with Hope, she’s the one turning up the volume). What I can tell you is that Sermanni will have a tough road ahead. Tough? Right? With the most talented roster in the world? Yes, because coaching the Americans is the most prestigious, pressure-packed job in women’s soccer. It’s win it all or be second-guessed galore. With so many strong American candidates for the job in this day and age, the fact that USSF president Sunil Gulati and his staff went with a foreign-born coach won’t sit well with many fans (and American-based coaches). That also will add pressure for Sermanni and mean that anything but a World Cup crown in 2015 will raise eyebrows. He’ll also be charged with transitioning this roster that includes some aging stars such as defender Christie Rampone, midfielders Shannon Boxx and Heather O’Reilly and our very own, Abby Wambach. She said she wants to play in the 2015 World Cup in Canada, when she’ll be 35, if her body is right. We’ll see soon enough what Sermanni, who won’t take over until Jan. 1, thinks of the Pittsford native, who stands just 11 goals shy of Mia Hamm’s world record. He’ll have his first press conference as U.S. coach on Wednesday but won’t take over until Jan. 1.

It’s worth noting Sermanni has had experience coaching in the U.S. He coached all three seasons of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA), serving as an assistant for San Jose in 2001, when he helped the club win the title. He was also an assistant there in 2002 before taking the head job of the New York Power in 2003, where he had Rampone and Boxx on his roster. ”Sermanni has taken a team and done incredible things with an average age of about 12,” former U.S. captain and current ESPN television analyst Julie Foudy told ESPN.com’s Jeff Carlisle. “Half of the team are 16-year-olds. That is incredibly impressive to me. But what has always impressed me the most about Tom from knowing him personally is he’s just one of the stand-up, quality, really ethical, really positive guys that is a wonderful manager of people. I’ve never met anyone, friend or enemy, that doesn’t just love him.”

Sermanni cultivated the Aussie program and that is, in part, why Gulati no doubt liked him. The U.S. will need to integrate some of its top teenagers over the next several years to replace its veterans. Quite likely, the man I thought best for the job – former U.S. coach Tony DiCicco, 64. an American, by the way – probably was too big of a personality for Gulati & Co. to handle. With Sermanni, the head honchos in U.S. Soccer have a lot more leverage with how everything runs. DiCicco told ESPN he was told by the USSF that he was the runner-up for the job, which I don’t know exactly why you tell anyone that (like it’s going to make DiCicco feel any better?) ”I’m going to be honest with you, I thought I was the best candidate and I still do,” DiCicco told ESPN. “I’m disappointed that [Gulati] thinks so little of American coaches. But it’s hard to say for me that he didn’t make a good choice. Tom Sermanni is a good choice and can – as so many of us can – win with this team.”

He better.

ALL LANCERS/MISL MATCHES STREAMED LIVE: The Major Indoor Soccer League announced today that every match this season can be seen live on the Internet on MISLnation.com. MISLnation.com also plans for MISL Weekly, an audio podcast scheduled to be posted every Wednesday that features players, coaches, and MISL journalists from throughout North America. The MISL season kicks off with five games this weekend, starting Friday. Below is the opening weekend schedule (times are ET):

Let’s get right to it: Most of the men who run the Rochester Rhinos and most of the men who own and run the Rochester Lancers don’t like each other. It has been that way almost from Day 1, from that summer afternoon in 2010 when the Lancers announced they were bringing to town the first indoor team in the Rochester’s illustrious soccer history. Instead of seeing the benefits of having a Major Indoor Soccer League team in town, the Rhinos immediately saw the Lancers as a rival. Instead of these two soccer teams working together — cross-promoting each other, making bigger names out of their stars and sharing the burden of player salaries (a benefit to each club and the players, who’d probably earn a bit more money) — they work against each other. And that’s short-sighted and dumb and speaks to some of the ego and insecurity going on here in Rochester, which used to be the best minor-league soccer city in the country and now is at times as dysfunctional as the Kardashians. Why bring this up now? Because I think we’ve finally reached a boiling point. The unsafe bridge between the Rhinos and Lancers might just be blown up, and the smart fans have known it was shaky all along. They’ve been at Lancers matches and wondered: Why aren’t they promoting the Rhinos? They’ve been at Rhinos matches and wondered: Why aren’t they mentioning the Lancers’ upcoming season or season-tickets?

Here’s a fact: The Lancers want some Rhinos on their team. They certainly see value in having a few players with some name recognition in Rochester on their roster to draw fan interest. They had one last year for the full season, forward Andrew Hoxie, and he did well. But Hoxie wanted to play this indoor season closer to home in Wichita, so he’ll come here this winter as an opponent with the Wings. Hoxie was under contract to the Rhinos and was loaned by them to the Lancers last winter. That’s how it works in soccer: One team loans its player out for the season, a couple of weeks or whatever duration of time. It worked the other way, too. The Lancers loaned defender Kyle Manscuk to the Rhinos for last season. Back to the present: Four Rhinos were on the Lancers’ training camp tryout list for this season, which starts next Saturday night in Syracuse. But of those four — defenders Troy Roberts and Tyler Bellamy, goalie Kristian Nicht and midfielder Gustavo Zamudio — it looks like only Zamudio might be a Lancer, and even that might not happen (more on that soon). It also should be noted that Rhinos midfielder Danny Earls is expected to play for the Lancers on loan this winter, and that’s something Rhinos coach Jesse Myers and I talked about Thursday. The Lancers haven’t announced the signing yet, but I’m told it will happen and I think Earls, with his quick feet, is going to be terrific as an indoor player.

So why didn’t the other Rhinos try out? Myers told me Bellamy and Roberts have “mutually agreed” to be paid to work Rhinos camps and clinics this fall and winter to make money instead of playing indoors. As for Nicht, he’d only be a backup to Pat Hannigan with the Lancers, so why bother. The Rhinos would rather their guys NOT play indoor because they put themselves at risk for injury and certainly the grind of playing year-round can take its toll on the body even if it puts a little more money in players’ pockets. I get that and actually don’t disagree. Obviously, a player is more at risk for injury playing 26 indoor games compared to zero. Of course, as someone not involved with the management of either team told me Thursday: “You can get hurt getting into a car accident, too. Are (Rhinos) players going to stop driving?”

But, I do see the Rhinos’ point: If Roberts hurts his knee in February and misses significant time during the Rhinos, that’s a big blow to the club. Players are, essentially, “a total investment” (Myers’ word), and is the risk worth the reward? That’s important here, too: Compensation. We’re not talking about these loaned Rhinos earning $25,000 or more for five months of indoor soccer. It’s less. How much? I’d say cut that 25K at least in half.

Here’s the Lancers’ side, though: Playing indoor can make guys such as Roberts or Earls more popular among fans, keep their names in the public eye all winter, and that, in turn, may help draw a few more fans to Rhinos matches. Indoor also will keep (lazy) players (To clarify: I’m not referring to any Rhinos mentioned here) in better shape year-round and can help them develop better foot skills and quicker play and thinking on the field because they more accustomed to playing in tighter spaces. “The best players in the NASL and USL PRO are indoor players because they do stay fit all year long and do learn to play quicker,” Fantauzzo said. “That’s the truth of it all.”

I truly do see both sides to the argument. Rewind for a second: Why did so many Rhinos back in the late 1990s also play indoor and outdoor soccer? First, a few key ones were actually owned by indoor teams (such as the Cleveland Crunch) and were on loan to Rochester. Secondly, some of those indoor players back then earned more money than most would now, so it was tougher for the Rhinos to say, “If you give up that $30,000 we’ll somehow make it up to you?” Rhinos president Pat Ercoli, the former coach who used to have to sweat out those indoor months hoping Tommy Tanner or Scott Schweitzer didn’t get hurt playing indoors, told me the summer of 2011, even before the Lancers ever played a game, that he thought if outdoor players weren’t going to be paid a decent wage by indoor teams in the new MISL it wouldn’t be worth them risking injury. So that has been consistent.

But what hasn’t been consistent, according the Lancers, was communication from the Rhinos. The Lancers offered last winter to give the Rhinos a table at Blue Cross Arena to sell Rhinos season tickets and packages. Often, they say, they never heard back from Ercoli or anyone else in the Rhinos’ office. Ercoli and Fantauzzo, you see, are the key figures here. And that’s ironic because after the departure of Rhinos president/GM Matthew Ford in 2009, it was Fantauzzo who helped convince owner Rob Clark that Ercoli was the right man to lead the front office as the new GM. Ercoli’s presence alone would help fans remember the championship-filled past and Ercoli at the helm would usher in a new era of bringing back the winning tradition.

So in 2010, Fantauzzo decided to launch the Lancers. But it wasn’t to get back at the Rhinos and hurt them. It had always been a dream of his to own and run a pro soccer team, and his own health issues made him realize it was now or never. I still don’t get why some old-time Lancers players and owners thought bringing back the Lancers’ name was tarnishing it. To me – and this is how Fantauzzo explains it – it was done to pay tribute Rochester’s soccer pioneers, so parents could explain to children, “There used to be a team called the Lancers here from 1967-80 and they played in the North American Soccer League, the greatest outdoor league in America until the success of MLS over the past few years. They even won a championship in 1970.”

And here we are today. It’s a shame the Rhinos and Lancers can’t figure out a way to work together. I’m sure both sides won’t agree with everything written here, but no one can argue with this: The rift isn’t good for each team and isn’t good for soccer in Rochester.

The Rochester Lancers will hold their first intra-squad scrimmage at 6:45 Thursday night at Total Sports Experience, 880 Elmgrove Road in Gates, and are calling it their “Blue and Gold Game.” I like the name. The match will feature the MISL team’s 11 returning players and all the rest who are trying out for coach Jim Hesch’s club, which opens the season Nov. 3 at Syracuse before its home opener Nov. 10 at Blue Cross Arena against the expansion Chicago Soul. Thursday’s match is free and fans are encouraged to attend to get their first look at the Lancers, who feature top-scorers Mauricio Salles and Doug Miller, midfielder Jeremy Ortiz, goalkeeper Pat Hannigan and former area high school standouts such as Kyle Manscuk, Jefferson Dargout and Jake Schindler. Here’s a video below of training camp, which opened Monday at TSE.

ABBY SCORES, U.S. TIES GERMANY: Abby Wambach scored late in the first half to give the United States the lead, her 148th career goal that puts her within 10 of tying Mia Hamm’s world record, but ended up settling for a 2-2 tie with Germany on Tuesday night in front of 18,870 fans in East Hartford, Conn. Megan Rapinoe’s pass ahead to Alex Morgan set up Wambach’s goal. Morgan sent the ball across and it was deflected by a defender but Wambach, as she’s accustomed to doing, decided to use her head to convert on a diving shot. Midfielder Carli Lloyd, who’ll be at a WNY Flash clinic in Elma on Saturday, was named the “Budweiser Woman of the Match.” The Americans are now off until Nov. 28 when they play Ireland in Portland, Ore. Then there’s a Dec. 1 match in Phoenix against Ireland. No other Fan Celebration Tour matches for the Olympic gold medalists have been announced.

AND THEN THERE WERE SEVEN: U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said during Tuesday night’s NBC Sports Network broadcast of the U.S. women’s match (see video below) that the USSF has narrowed its list of replacements for coach Pia Sundhage to seven and he expects to name a successor and give more positive details on a new women’s professional league for 2013 by Nov. 1. That’s next Thursday. I hope to have some more answers for you, especially on the WNY Flash and the league, before then.

The United States women’s soccer team resumes its Fan Tribute Tour tonight against Germany in a match just outside Chicago (Fox Soccer, 7:30 ET) and Pittsford’s Abby Wambach stands just 11 goals shy of tying Mia Hamm for the world record in goals at 158. After tonight, the Americans play Germany again on Tuesday in East Hartford, Conn. (NBC Sports Network, 7:30 p.m.) before matches against Ireland Nov. 28 in Portland, Ore., and Dec. 1 in Phoenix, Ariz. Earlier this week, forward Alex Morgan was named the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year.

LANCERS OPEN CAMP MONDAY: The Rochester Lancers (MISL) open training camp at 9 a.m. Monday at Total Sports Experience in Gates, and in addition to 11 returnees from last year’s playoff club there is a long list of camp invitees. That includes four players who were on the Rhinos last season: goalie Kristian Nicht, defender and captain Troy Roberts, defender Tyler Bellamy and midfielder Gustavo Zamudio. Twenty-five others players are invited and some with local ties include Levi Tesch (North Rose-Wolcott graduate), Aaron Acello (East Rochester), Brett Allen (Brockport), George Morningstar (Brighton) and Dan Ames (Livonia). A couple of players from Harrisburg (USL PRO) on the list are Garrett Pettis and Stephen Basso.

DONATELLI SIGNS WITH BALTIMORE: Ex-Rhinos midfielder Tony Donatelli, who helped lead Charleston to the USL PRO title last summer, has signed with Baltimore and is joined by another former Rhinos forward, Tino Nunez (Pittsburgh). The Blast already have ex-Rhino, Max Ferdinand, one of the MISL’s top midfielders.

RHINOS HOST CLINIC: The Rochester Rhinos hosted a free soccer clinic on Saturday at Sahlen’s Stadium and coach Jesse Myers reports that about 120 players were there to listen and learn and receive instruction. The big turnout may prompt another clinic to be held this fall.

KICK THIS REPLAY: We had Lancers forward and former Rhinos star Doug Miller on today’s Kick This! show. To hear a replay, click here.

When the Rochester Lancers opening training camp on Monday, they won’t have head coach Billy Andracki but they will have 11 players back from last year’s squad that reached the MISL playoffs in its inaugural season. The Lancers, who went 11-13 last winter, announced

Midfielder Jeremy Ortiz (middle) is one of the top midfielders back for the Lancers, who open the season Nov. 1 at rival Syracuse.

Thursday that they’ve retained their two top-scorers, league MVP candidate Mauricio Salles (30 goals/13 assists) and Doug Miller (25/14), along with goalkeeper Pat Hannigan, Rochester’s Defensive Player of the Year, among their 11 returnees. Salles was a force last season and finished second in the league in points with 81; Miller, who is now 43, was sixth with 66. Jeremy Ortiz (17/11), the Lancers’ fourth-leading scorer, is among their key midfielders who will be back along with Gary Boughton (8/7). Forwards Lubo Kocic (19/8) and Andrew Hoxie (16/13), who has spent the past three years with the Rochester Rhinos, and defender Will Kletzien are among the Lancers’ key losses. Their season opener is Nov. 3 at rival Syracuse, coached by ex-Rhino Tommy Tanner.

The club announced last week that Andracki, the former Rhinos goalkeeper, wouldn’t be back as head coach and that assistant, Jim Hesch, had been promoted to the top spot. Lancers co-owner Salvatore “Soccer Sam” Fantauzzo said the Lancers and Andracki couldn’t agree to terms on a new contract. Andracki declined to comment. Hesch is a Syracuse native who played in college at Southern Connecticut and Cortland. He coached the Canisius College men for 10 years and played indoor soccer from 1995-2002 with Harrisburg, Buffalo and Philadelphia, winning a Major Indoor Soccer League title in 2002 with Philly. He was an all-star in 1997-98 with Harrisburg.

Last season the Lancers finished second in the Eastern Division behind Baltimore. They were the only expansion club in the seven-team league to make the postseason. The MISL has replaced its Norfolk franchise with the Chicago Soul, Rochester’s opponent in its Nov. 10 home opener at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The Milwaukee Wave repeated as MISL champion. The Lancers also announced Thursday a layaway package that will allow fans to wait until after Valentine’s Day to pay for ticket packages. All of their 26 matches will be carried live on 93.3 FM and that their 13 home matches will be replayed weekly on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. They’ll also be available on TW’s On-Demand service.

Among the other returnees are defenders with local ties, Aquinas graduate Kyle Manscuk and Irondequoit’s Jake Schindler, and one forward, Jefferson Dargout of Franklin High and Nazareth College. Brayton Knapp and Elliot Fauske are other defenders who are back along with backup goalie, Gavin McInerney. The Lancers have been pursuing a loan from the Rhinos for midfielder Danny Earls, but Earls was not among the players announced Thursday. Tickets, including family packs for $20 and six-packs for $60 that can be used for any matches, are already on sale. Season tickets are $130. For more information, visit www.RochesterLancers.com.

UPDATE: Billy Andracki declined comment Saturday morning on the advice, he said, of his lawyer.

FRIDAY: Apologies for not posting this sooner. I was on another work assignment at Syracuse University for men’s basketball. Here’s the news: Jim Hesch, an assistant coach last year for the Rochester Lancers, was named the Major Indoor Soccer League’s new coach on Friday. The Syracuse native who formerly coached at Canisius College and the University of Buffalo replaces Billy Andracki, the former Rochester Rhinos goalie who guided the expansion club to the playoffs last year. Lancers co-owner Salvatore “Soccer Sam” Fantauzzo told me the club and Andracki could not “come to terms on a renewal” of the 43-year-old’s contract. I will try to reach Andracki in the morning. Needless to say, as popular as Andracki was – this is a blow to the team and timing of the release – late on a Friday afternoon – I’m sure was no coincidence. We’ll also have more coverage on Kick This! at 11 a.m. Saturday. Rochester opens its season Nov. 3 at Syracuse and plays its home opener Nov. 10 against Chicago at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. Hesch, who nearly was the head coach last year before Andracki entered the picture and became the no-brainer choice, won a national title (Division II) as a player at Southern Connecticut (the alma mater of Brian Bliss and ex-Rhino John Ball) and later played at Cortland State.

The Rochester Lancers are set to open training camp Saturday at Total Sports Experience and their season opener is just three weeks away, Nov. 3 in Syracuse, before their home opener on Nov. 10 at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. There aren’t a whole bunch of changes in the Major Indoor Soccer League other than Norfolk going dark (how many pro soccer franchises have folded in that area over the years, anyway? I’ve lost count) out and a new Chicago team is in. The Lancers say most of their top players will be back, including top-scorer Mauricio Salles (30 goals/13 assists) and ageless Doug Miller (25/14), but there haven’t been any official announcements yet. I am hearing that Rhinos midfielder Danny Earls, whose quick feet and shifty moves could make him dynamite indoors, could be a top off-season acquisition. Look for news soon. Here’s a link to their web site.

RHINOS HOLD TRYOUT: The Rochester Rhinos will hold a tryout, their first for 2013, Dec. 11-13 at Total Sports Experience in Gates. Look for coach Jesse Myers to take a look at plenty of college players here. For more information or to find out how to get invited, go to the Rhinos’ site for an application.

WALDRUM AND RILEY FRONTRUNNERS? While reports continue to get stronger that we’ll have a women’s pro soccer league again in 2013, there is more coming out on possible candidates to replace United States coach Pia Sundhage. A report on an NBC site says Notre Dame’s Randy Waldrum and former Philadelphia Independence (WPS) and Long Island Rough Riders (USL) coach Paul Riley are front-runners. Here’s the report. I blogged on Saturday that Riley had been interviewed, but I’d be stunned if he got the job. USSF president Sunil Gulati has said he wants a coach that will do more than Sundhage did in developing a connection to the USSF’s girls program and I don’t see that with Riley. Waldrum, who has led the Irish to two NCAA titles, is more in that mold. While I think WNY Flash coach Aaran Lines would do a terrific job, I’m not sure if the USSF believes he’s been a head coach long enough (four years) to get the nod for this enormous position. That’s unfortunate and that’s what they think. I’d disagree. He has shown the ability to be able to manage top players such as Marta, and Christine Sinclair, as well as groom up-and-comers such as Alex Morgan, Ashlyn Harris and Whitney Engen. And three championships the past three years in three different leagues says a lot about his ability to find and develop talent, get the best out of it and adapt in different situations.

GOTTA LAUGH: One longtime Rhinos fan, who shall remain nameless here, often e-mails me his musings. Here’s something he sent me this morning. I find it entertaining (maybe because I like to gamble?), his take on Rhinos midfielder/forward Tam McManus likely returning for 2013 after a disappointing 2012. “I am mystified that we would think Tam McManus’ extremely disappointing 2012 season should auger a breakout 2013 season. This sounds like the logic of a gambler on a losing streak who finds his string of losses to be a portent of an impending big win. After grousing about having been mis-positioned at midfield throughout the season, he was started at forward for the last few games. Whereupon he kept himself at such a remove from the penalty area as one might expect Superman to avoid a Kryptonite mine. I am not against him coming back. Talent is so thin in the league of late that he might as well stay.”

WNY FLASH ARE PART OF DISCUSSIONS ON LEAGUE

One of the big concerns over the rebirth of a new American women’s professional soccer league has been whether clubs could afford to pay the bigger salaries for United States women’s national team stars such as Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Hope Solo, who’ll give teams and the league drawing power.

But during a media briefing Friday, United States Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said if a new league can be formed for 2013 the USSF may pay for its stars. “A big part of that (league) participation would be that the national team players would play in this league and perhaps be funded directly by U.S. Soccer,” he said.

Gulati has been guarded about just how much the not-for-profit USSF may involved, particularly financially. He also revealed that 11 potential ownership groups in 10 cities are in on discussions as plans move forward, and that the United Soccer Leagues (USL), if the league happens, would handle running it. The Rochester Rhinos have been affiliated with the USL in all but one their 17 seasons.

While Gulati didn’t disclose specific names of prospective teams, the Western New York Flash have been in on league discussions. In fact, when Gulati was in Rochester on Sept. 1 for the U.S. women’s Victory Tour win over Costa Rica, 8-0, in front of 13,125 fans, he spoke with Flash coach Aaran Lines and had hoped to talk with Flash owner, Joe Sahlen. The Buffalo-based Flash, who’ve played home matches at Rochester’s Sahlen’s Stadium the past two years, won the WPSL Elite title last summer and in 2011 captured the last championship in Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) before that league’s demise. In 2010, the Flash won the USL’s W-League crown.

The two former women’s pro leagues that have failed in America — WPS (2009-11) and the Women’s United Soccer Association (2001-03) — each lasted only three seasons. Wambach said in late August many U.S. national team players would likely wait until November or December to decide if they stay home and play in a new league or play abroad during 2013 and 2014 . The Americans’ schedule will be limited the next two years without the World Cup or Olympics. The 31-year-old Wambach said she hopes her legacy, in part, can be to help develop a sustainable women’s pro league. With 147 goals, she is just 11 shy of tying Mia Hamm’s world record.

The U.S. has four upcoming exhibitions: Against Germany on Oct. 20 in Napierville, Ill., and Oct. 23 in East Hartford, Conn.; against Ireland on Nov. 28 in Portland, Ore., and Dec. 1 in Glendale, Ariz. Gulati said Jill Ellis, development director the the U.S. women, will coach the Americans in its October matches, but she is not a candidate to replace Pia Sundhage, the new head coach in her native, Sweden. Ellis is a former Sundhage assistant. Gulati said the USSF has received 25-30 inquiries about the head coaching job and hopes to have a successor named in the next several weeks. It’s not known of Lines is a candidate, but Paul Riley, a two-time WPS Coach of the Year with Philadelphia, has garnered interest. Riley formerly coached New York City-area men’s teams in the USL before focusing more on women’s side starting in 2006.

If you didn’t see my post earlier this week on some of what could be the Comings and Goings of the Rhinos for 2013 season, scroll down and you can check it out. We’ll be talking about all that and more, including the departure of assistant Bill Sedgewick, on Saturday’s Kick This! show at 11 a.m. on WHTK-AM 1280 and online at www.whtk.com. So bring your questions and observations and we’ll spend as much time as fans want with our guest, first-year Rhinos coach Jesse Myers. Our number: 585.222.1280. We also hope to have on Webster Schroeder girls soccer standout, Alexa Antetomaso, whose future will including playing for national power Notre Dame. Check out my feature and video story by clicking here.

SPEAKING OF HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER: There will be some great action going on Saturday at Rivals Cup in Spencerport. It’s a tripleheader starting at 3 p.m. with Webster Schroeder, ranked second in the Democrat and Chronicle’s large-school coaches poll, going against No. 4 Spencerport. Both schools are reigning Section V champions and it’s a rematch of last year’s Class AA state qualifier in which the Warriors pounded Spencerport. At 5 p.m., it’s the Chili Bowl – No. 10 Gates Chili vs. Churchville-Chili and then finally it’s the battle of Greece – No. 5 Athena vs. No. 6 Arcadia in another matchup of teams ranked in the D&C poll. We’re a few weeks from the Section V Tournament, but Saturday in Spencerport may have that feel.

Jeff DiVeronica has covered professional soccer and the Rhinos for the Democrat and Chronicle since the team's inception in 1996. "Devo's Direct Kicks" takes aim mostly at Rochester soccer, but will also highlight the USL, MLS and U.S. national team play. Devo, his nickname since college at St. John Fisher, also hosts two weekly radio shows each Saturday on WHTK-AM/FM (1280/107.3 or www.whtk.com). "Kick This!" (11 a.m.) features soccer talk, while the Canandaigua National Bank High School Sports Show (noon) covers Section V sports. E-mail Jeff at jdiveron@DemocratandChronicle.com.
Or follow him on Twitter: @RocDevo